Next up is Baripants! ... I mean Hibari.
Amano Akira owns Reborn. This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Theme Three - Freedom
i. He would always be the last one to be tied down, the one who would never submit to the authority of another. He had learned at a young age to never place trust in the strength of another until they had earned it; other people were weak, could not gain the level of strength that he knew he could reach. His father had told him that every desirable human trait in the world were traits of the strong, and he had no reason to not believe him. And so he trained every day, promised himself that he would never need to rely on the strength of another person, and eventually became happy with his progress. The strong paved the way for the pitifully weak to follow along the set route, and he knew without a doubt that he was one of the strongest.
ii. On his first day of middle school, he ignored teachers and other students alike and did as he pleased. That was how he had lived up until that point in time, and that was how he would continue to live. He ignored the red faces and furious voices of the teachers and simply did as he pleased. Their method of discipline was ineffectual and inadequate. Their words did not trouble him; they were all arrogant herbivores, who and acted without fear despite the fact that he could easily make them his prey. During the lunch break he wandered the school, found the strongest-looking students and bit them all to death with ease. He then climbed to the roof of the school, wiped the blood from his face and tonfas and lay down for a well-deserved nap. It wouldn't be a bad thing to discipline the entire herbivorous school, he thought. Before the final bell, he was called to the headmaster's office and shown the inherent weakness of Namimori Middle School's brand of discipline. The headmaster yelled, he threatened, and finished his pointless display by him a week of detention. He smirked. It was impossible for someone like that to keep someone as strong as he was caged against his will. He sat in the office and watched the herbivore avoid him until he finally conceded that his parents were not coming to talk about his misbehaviour and told him to leave.
iii. The next day, he found the same group of students he'd fought the day before and bit them all to death a second time. It would do them good to have a constant reminder that they were now inferior, less than the best. He took a bad blow to the cheek that made his skin swell and sting, but he dealt the finishing blow. In the end, victory was all that mattered. It was only after their leader had rid his mouth of blood and broken teeth that his opponent spoke to him.
"What do you want?"
He paused and considered that question, and then stood on the leader's fingers with the heel of his shoe when he realised he was making a sad attempt to escape.
"I want strength."
"We can help."
A sneer. "Only the weak rely on others."
But perhaps, he thought, it could be useful to have others to administer his superior style of discipline. Loyalty was not to be underestimated. Even the strongest could have confidantes, seconds that would not dare question them or challenge their authority.
"Get up." He removed his foot from the other's bruised fingers. This one seemed to be the least herbivorous, at least. They'd managed to get that part right, even through their weakness.
"What-?"
"What is your name, herbivore?"
"Kusakabe Tetsuya."
A smirk. "I'll bite you to death once you outlive your usefulness."
He was strong alone, but it was on that day that he realised strength could be more effective in greater in numbers.
iv. There was something satisfying in knowing that you owned something so completely. When he walked through the gates, teachers regarded him with the respect he deserved. Students stared in fear and awe and stepped aside to minimise crowding. He stood at the school gates as the students arrived to ensure that everything was regulation, to make sure that punishment was given to those who thought they could defy his strength. It had taken longer than he would have wanted to gain this level of control, but it had been its own reward. Discipline was essential. Physical strength ensured all forms of superiority over the weak. And power ensured freedom, the knowledge that no one could bother nor challenge his authority.
He left the gate after disciplining the last few students trying to make it through the gate before the bell. He spend the morning running the school and went to the roof just after the midday lunch break. He looked down at the herbivorous crowds of students filing back to class and felt the breeze make a vain effort to knock him down. It felt like a driving force. It felt like impunity.
"Kyou-san!"
His thoughts were cut short as Kusakabe barged through the door that led to the roof, covered in cuts and bruises.
"Tetsu."
"Kyou-san, there's three students in the Discipline Committee's Room causing a disturbance."
His eyes narrowed. "I'll bite them to death."
He grabbed his tonfas from where he had discarded them by the door, stepped around Kusakabe and made his way down to the Committee's room. It was no reason hurry. They would be weaker than he was. He understood strength better than any of the other weaklings at Namimori Middle.
He smirked and tightened his grip on his tonfas. He would show them that herbivores were not worthy of challenging his authority.
end.